HAMPTON -- Residents will have a new park to enjoy due to a gift of two-and-one-half acres of land off Fielding Way in Hampton donated to the town by Leo Pacheco in memory of his late wife, Nancy Wright Pacheco.

Selectmen voted to accept the land at a public hearing held just prior to their Monday night meeting. The parcel of land was part of a two-lot subdivision already approved by the Hampton Planning Board.

Vivianne Marcotte, Chairman of the Hampton Conservation Commission, had expressed the commission's support of receipt of the gift in a letter to selectmen last August. Marcotte described the new park as being similar to those at the Five Corners and Locke Road, providing "an ideal destination for neighborhood parents" as well as a place for the elderly to take exercise walks, rest on a bench, then head back home.

Marcotte said the commission does not favor creation of a parking area as the intent is to keep it as a neighborhood park with little or no car traffic. In her letter, Marcotte said the commission does not favor the installation of a fence, other than perhaps a decorative fence, around the area. A memorial plaque would be chosen by the Pacheco family, she said.

Details of the planned park will be further discussed with Town Manager James Barrington.